Nearly a decade after a former Krishna devotee from Orange County and her mother were awarded $32.5 million in an alleged brainwashing case, an appellate court Thursday overturned a key element of the award and ordered a new trial.

The state Supreme Court, acting in a bitter, 12-year battle over religious practices, on Thursday let stand an appellate ruling that sharply reduced a multimillion-dollar award against the Hare Krishnas and rejected charges that the group had "brainwashed" an Orange County girl when she was a teen-ager.

A reporter from a major East Coast newspaper asked Robin George Westerkamp: How did she feel knowing that the Hare Krishnas might lose major assets to pay the $5-million judgment she and her mother won against the religious sect? "Doesn't it bother you that these people might lose their temples?" she was asked. Her response: Are you kidding? Robin George was 14 years old and a troubled teen-ager when she left her parents' Cypress home to join the Hare Krishnas.

In a long-awaited ruling on religious liberty, a state appeals court in San Diego on Wednesday drastically cut a $9.7-million award against the Hare Krishna movement, dismissing a claim that the sect brainwashed a 15-year-old Orange County girl into joining. In addition to the brainwashing claim, the 4th District Court of Appeal also dismissed claims that the Krishnas intentionally caused Robin George emotional distress and libeled her.

The state Supreme Court, acting in a bitter, 12-year battle over religious practices, on Thursday let stand an appellate ruling that sharply reduced a multimillion-dollar award against the Hare Krishna sect and rejected charges that the group had "brainwashed" an Orange County teen-age girl. The justices refused to hear an appeal by Robin George and her mother contending that there was ample evidence that George had been deceived and coerced into leaving home and joining the group at age 14.

In a long-awaited ruling on religious liberty, a state appeals court dismissed a claim that the Hare Krishna sect brainwashed a 15-year-old Cypress girl and cut by more than two-thirds a $9.7-million verdict against the group. In addition to the brainwashing claim, the 4th District Court of Appeal in San Diego dismissed claims that the Krishnas intentionally caused Robin George emotional distress and libeled her. It left her only a $75,000 award tied to the wrongful death of her father.

Bada Hari das, barefoot and dressed in colorless monk garb, an India-imported clay drum tied round his neck, moved alone to the front of the polished temple floor of black-and-white tiles. Slowly, he began the chant, the internationally recognized Hare Krishna mantra. But the high priest would not be alone for long, nor would the mantra remain at a soft cadence. This was the regular Sunday night feast, the chance for the devotees and other followers to kick up their heels.

Hare Krishnas asked a state appeals court Tuesday to set aside a $6-million judgment awarded to an Orange County mother and daughter, and to order a new trial in a 14-year-old lawsuit they say threatens to devastate their religion. "The punitive damages for this case are completely out of line," said attorney Kent Richland, representing the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.

Bada Hari das, barefoot and dressed in colorless monk garb, an India-imported clay drum tied round his neck, moved alone to the front of the polished temple floor of black-and-white tiles. Slowly, he began the chant, the internationally recognized Hare Krishna mantra. But the high priest would not be alone for long, nor would the mantra remain at a soft cadence. This was the regular Sunday night feast, the chance for the devotees and other followers to kick up their heels.

Attorneys for the Bush Administration urged the Supreme Court Monday to reverse what may have been its most controversial ruling of the last year and to uphold a newly passed law that bans burning or defacing the American flag. The government should be permitted to protect the flag as one of those national symbols "special to us as a people," U.S. Solicitor Gen. Kenneth W. Starr told the court, which appeared to contain a majority that is still skeptical.

The U.S. Supreme Court has delayed a decision whether to hear the Hare Krishna's appeal for relief from a $5-million judgment involving an Orange County mother and her daughter, who had once been a member of the religious sect. The court also refused to hear an appeal by Marsha George and her daughter, Robin George Westerkamp that it restore part of the nearly $10-million Orange County Superior Court judgment. But Westerkamp said the family had not had high expectations of success.

A reporter from a major East Coast newspaper asked Robin George Westerkamp: How did she feel knowing that the Hare Krishnas might lose major assets to pay the $5-million judgment she and her mother won against the religious sect? "Doesn't it bother you that these people might lose their temples?" she was asked. Her response: Are you kidding? Robin George was 14 years old and a troubled teen-ager when she left her parents' Cypress home to join the Hare Krishnas.

The U.S. Supreme Court has delayed a decision whether to hear the Hare Krishna's appeal for relief from a $5-million judgment involving an Orange County mother and her daughter, who had once been a member of the religious sect. The court also refused to hear an appeal by Marsha George and her daughter, Robin George Westerkamp that it restore part of the nearly $10-million Orange County Superior Court judgment. But Westerkamp said the family had not had high expectations of success.

Even in this city that swears by its diversity, the Hare Krishna have not always blended easily into the community's patchwork. Over the years, members of the Hare Krishna temple here have annoyed residents with late-night chanting and squared off against the city over the right to hold celebrations on crowded Main Beach. There was a drug scandal that rocked the temple in the late 1970s and a lawsuit by a Cypress teen-ager who alleged that she was brainwashed into joining the sect.

What began in an Orange County courtroom nearly a decade ago as a landmark case on religious cults became a forum for anti-American protest here Tuesday, as Indian political leaders joined with hundreds of Hare Krishna devotees outside the U.S. Embassy to denounce America as an anti-Hindu nation.